Mincey v. Head, No. 97-9078
| Decision Date | 16 March 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 97-9078 |
| Citation | 206 F.3d 1106 |
| Parties | (11th Cir. 2000) Terry Michael MINCEY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Frederick J. HEAD, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
Before TJOFLAT, BIRCH and DUBINA, Circuit Judges.
In this case, Petitioner Terry Mincey seeks a writ of habeas corpus vacating his convictions for murder, aggravated battery, and armed robbery, and, alternatively, setting aside the death sentence he received for the murder. His principle grounds for relief (among twenty-five grounds) are that the police obtained incriminating statements from him after he asked for a lawyer, that the prosecution withheld evidence favorable to his defense, and that his attorneys rendered ineffective assistance of counsel. The district court denied relief. We affirm.
On the afternoon of April 12, 1982, Terry Mincey drove his motorcycle to Robert Jones' trailer-home in the Cross Creek Trailer Park on the outskirts of Macon, Georgia. After parking his motorcycle, he joined Jones in Jones' 1969 Ford Mustang automobile and together they drove to the Forest Place Trailer Park, located a short distance away, to meet Mincey's girlfriend. When they arrived, they encountered "a bunch of people" standing at the entrance of the trailer park. One was Timothy Jenkins, who lived at the park with his wife of three weeks. Mincey and Jenkins knew each other; Jones and Jenkins were barely acquainted. All three were the same age, around twenty-two. As the they stood around talking, they decided to rob a drug dealer they knew in Macon. Each was armed: Mincey was carrying a .38 caliber semi-automatic Llama pistol, Jones a .12 gauge bolt-action shotgun, and Jenkins a .38 caliber Arminius revolver.
With Jones behind the wheel, they drove in Jones' Mustang to Macon. The drug dealer they intended to rob was not at his usual place of business, so they went to Jones' trailer-home to plan their next step. At the trailer-home, Mincey and Jenkins talked about their need for cash. While that discussion was taking place, Mincey and Jones, using a hacksaw blade, sawed off the barrel of Jones's shotgun to twelve inches and altered the stock so that it resembled a pistol grip. The talk then turned to robbery, and they headed back to Macon in Jones' Mustang. En route, they passed a Ramada Inn, and Jenkins suggested that they rob it. Mincey and Jones rejected the idea, however, noting that the area was too congested. An Exxon gas station appeared to be a good prospect, but it was closed. They next considered a Kwickee Food Store, but Mincey quickly dismissed it; a store employee was one of Mincey's trailer park neighbors.
Time was running out; it was after 10:00 p.m. and most establishments were closing. As they passed a Mini Food Store, located at the corner of Houston Avenue and Hartley Bridge Road, Mincey had Jones turn the car around so that he, Mincey, could go in and "case" the store. Jones pulled into the parking lot, and Mincey entered the store and purchased a pack of gum. After observing who was in the store, a cashier and two teenagers, Mincey returned to the car, and they parked on a dirt road a short distance away to discuss what to do next. Mincey proposed that they rob the Mini Food Store. When asked what to do about the two teenagers, Mincey said (according to Jones and Jenkins, who copped pleas and testified for the prosecution at Mincey's trial), Jenkins replied, "we ain't going back and shoot nobody," to which Mincey responded, "if you are talking about not wasting nobody, you are in the wrong [expletive] car for that."
With that, the conversation ended, and they decided to rob the Mini Food Store. They drove there in silence and parked in front of the store, leaving the motor running. Mincey and Jenkins got out of the car; Jones remained behind the wheel. Jenkins positioned himself beside an ice machine outside the store; from there he could see the counter area through the storefront window. Mincey entered the store. As he went through the door, Mincey pulled his pistol out from under his coat. The two teenagers he had seen before, Mischell McCook, who was fourteen, and her brother Bubba, who was fifteen, were still in the store. Brandishing his weapon, Mincey told them to get into the car parked outside; then he instructed Paulette Riggs, the cashier, to empty the contents of the cash register into the bag he was carrying.
When the McCook siblings exited the store, Jenkins, who was still standing by the ice machine, told them to stay put. At that moment, Russell Peterman, a Bibb County firefighter, driving a Ford pick-up truck, pulled up to the gas pumps in front of the store and began filling his tank. While he was pumping gas, Mincey escorted Riggs from the store at gun point, told her to stand beside Jenkins, and headed towards Peterman. As he approached Peterman from behind, Mincey said, "come go with me." Peterman turned to see who was speaking and found Mincey pointing a gun at him. Surprised, Peterman failed to respond, and, as Peterman testified at the trial, Mincey exhibited a "flash of anger" and said "you think I'm joking, don't you." Mincey then fired once, hitting Peterman in the chest.1 Peterman hit the ground and lay there motionless but still conscious. From point-blank range, Mincey fired again, at Peterman's head.2 As the second shot rang out, the McCook siblings began running toward a field behind the store.
Believing that the second shot had killed Peterman, Mincey headed for the Mustang. As he was going toward the car, Riggs started to run (in the direction of the field behind the store), and Mincey shot at her. The bullet entered her left ear, and she fell near a dumpster behind the store. Mincey walked to where Riggs was lying, shot her in the head, and ran to the Mustang. Jenkins was already in the car, and, after Mincey got in, the three men sped away. As they drove west on Hartley Bridge Road, Jones asked Mincey if Riggs and Peterman were dead, and Mincey answered, Mincey then asked Jones and Jenkins what they had done with the two teenagers. Jenkins answered that they were "back there," to which Mincey responded, Jenkins told him, "no, back at the store." Realizing that the teenagers had gotten away, Mincey replied, "well, I just got a death sentence ... a murder rap for $40."
As the robbery was taking place, Larry Ballard, who lived next door to the Mini Food Store and had retired for the night, heard two gun shots. He got out of bed, told his wife to call the sheriff, and ran out of the house.3 Once outside, he heard someone scream and then another gun shot. Moments later, he saw two white males get into a distinctive looking Mustang-the hood was missing, the car was covered with primer paint, and the muffler was loud-and speed away.
At 10:50 p.m., two Bibb County Sheriff's officers arrived at the store, obtained a detailed description of the getaway car, learned from a passerby that it belonged to Jones, and, a short time later, determined his address. Meanwhile, Jones drove his Mustang to the Cross Creek Trailer Park. There, Mincey got out, retrieved his motorcycle, and rode it to his mother's trailer-home at the Hill-N-Dale Trailer Park. After letting Mincey out, Jones drove to the Forest Place Trailer Park and dropped Jenkins off. After that, Jones threw his shotgun into a nearby creek and headed west to the trailer-home of a close friend, Joey Holcomb, in adjoining Crawford County.
A sheriff's office investigator who had been dispatched to the scene of the crime, Bob Boren, knew Jones, and was acquainted with his criminal record. Jones had done time in a Georgia penitentiary for crimes committed in Bibb County: armed robbery, burglary, and theft of automobile parts. Boren also knew Holcomb.4 Suspecting that Holcomb might know of Jones' whereabouts, Boren contacted Holcomb's sister who said that her brother and Jones were still "running" together. She gave Boren directions to Holcomb's trailer-home, and at 2:30 a.m. the following day, April 13, Boren found Jones there and placed him under arrest. After being advised of his Miranda rights, Jones told Boren about the robbery and shootings at the Mini Food Store. Jones said that Mincey was the triggerman and that, when he dropped Mincey off at the Cross Creek Trailer Park, Mincey had the gun and his share of the robbery proceeds in his possession. Jones gave Boren a telephone number where Mincey could be reached and described Mincey's motorcycle.
Boren traced the phone number to a trailer-home at the Hill-N-Dale Trailer Park. Shortly after 4:15 a.m., the sheriff dispatched several officers to the trailer park. They located the trailer-home and Mincey's motorcycle; it was parked in front. A short time after the officers arrived, a woman stepped out of the trailer-home. An officer asked her who she was, and she replied that she was Mrs. Mincey and that she was on her way to visit a neighbor. The officer asked her if she knew where her son was, and she replied that Mincey was asleep inside. She inquired why the police were there, and the officer said that her son was a suspect in an armed robbery and a homicide. At the officer's request, Mrs. Mincey went to the neighbor's trailer-home, called her son on the telephone, and handed the phone to the officer. He informed Mincey that he was a suspect in a homicide and an armed robbery and asked him to step outside. Mincey did so, was placed under arrest, and...
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